Hi!! I’m so honored to be able to share a little something with each of you today!

My name is Alex and I write a blog about the things I love, my family, and my faith. I’m 24 years old, happily married, have two babes under the age of two, and I love my coffee! Life is full but lovely 😉

I’m so excited to talk about my two pregnancies! Being a mama is a highlight of my life, and I love to write about it for others!

This post is about the similarities and differences between my two pregnancies. I thought it would be interesting to compare and contrast the two experiences. I have been blessed with relatively easy pregnancies, and I am thankful that they have gone so well, as I tend to be a wimp when I don’t feel well…

During my second pregnancy, I was much more low-key about things – so much so that I completely forgot to go to one of my check-ups! Oh dear! I suppose it was partly due to my focused attention on my toddler. My life was drastically different during the two pregnancies. During my first, I was working full-time as a registered nurse; so I did three twelve-hour shifts every week. I was also finishing my bachelor’s degree online. Those were long days, and I was constantly busy. During the second pregnancy, I was no longer working or in school. I was home with my little girl and more focused on maintaining things around the house. I am quite confident that these two different lifestyles caused significant distinctions between these pregnancies. Of course, some of the variations I experienced could also be due to gender differences. ♥

Little Lady’s Pregnancy

Morning Sickness – I felt very nauseous for the first several weeks (essentially the entire first trimester). Despite the name, my nausea was present regardless of the time of day.

Energy Levels – I don’t remember very well, but I know that when I was feeling yucky, all I wanted to do was sleep it off. This was mostly a first trimester problem.

Cravings – I always wanted pizza. But that was nothing new to pregnancy!

Aversions – In the first trimester, I avoided coffee and chocolate! (What was wrong with me?) I started to slowly reincorporate them in the second trimester and was mostly back to normal in the third. I don’t feel like I’ve since been able to enjoy chocolate like I used to though. Very sad…

Carrying Baby – I carried little B very high in my tummy.

Hormones – I certainly had the occasional pregnant woman tantrums with the water-works and all…my poor hubby.

Hair/Nail Growth – My hair and nails grew so much during this pregnancy! I couldn’t believe it! I already had thick hair and I barely lost a strand the entire pregnancy. I also couldn’t believe how fast my nails would grow (which was actually quite annoying when it became difficult to lean over to give myself a pedicure!)

Skin – I had standard hormonal acne.

Misc – At some point later in the pregnancy, I developed carpal tunnel in both hands. I experienced numbness and tingling in my wrists and hands that flared up at night and when I would use a computer. It was quite uncomfortable.

All in all though, this was a great pregnancy!

Little Man’s Pregnancy

Morning Sickness – This time around, I only had nausea for a handful of weeks – sometimes not even every day. It was much more manageable.

Energy Levels – During the first trimester, I was exhausted. I took naps with my toddler as much as I could. My energy returned during the second trimester and dipped again during the third.

Cravings – None…I know that’s really boring.

Aversions – Again, I found coffee and chocolate offensive. During the second trimester, I started to get back into them. However, caffeine hit me hard since I took a three month break from it; so, it was easy to stay within the approved one cup recommendation.

Carrying Baby – It seemed that I carried this baby lower than my daughter. Many times when I was at the counter washing dishes, I felt like I was bumping the little guy against the sink. I don’t remember feeling that way with my first.

Hormones – I only had a handful of crazy moments. My husband and close friends would be the better ones to ask about this though!

Hair/Nail Growth – This time around, I lost a ton of hair! So bizarre. I also did not notice changes in my nail growth.

Skin – I definitely experienced hormonal acne.

Misc – I was so thankful that I didn’t have any complaints of the carpal tunnel.

This was also a great pregnancy! And we have been enjoying newborn snuggles ever since!

One last thing…

I want to share a few things that helped my morning sickness and carpal tunnel – these were my two biggest complaints – just in case anyone else has been navigating those issues…

Morning Sickness – During my bouts with morning sickness, I used special wristbands called Seabands. They claim to work by compressing a pressure point in the wrist. I don’t know if they truly work or if I experienced a placebo effect, but either way they certainly seemed to take the edge off of my nausea. I wore both at the same time during most of my waking hours in the first trimester. These certainly helped me, as well as, the occasional whiff of peppermint oil. Keeping my tummy filled with bland foods and getting lots of rest also helped to take the edge off of the nausea.

Carpal Tunnel – When I was pregnant with my first, I experienced carpal tunnel during the latter half of my pregnancy. I was able to purchase wrist braces at a local pharmacy that were specific for sleeping with carpal tunnel. These braces helped a lot.

It’s so fascinating to me that pregnancies can differ so much! (And my deliveries were significantly different too!) Can any of you relate to my experiences, or do you have any of your own stories to share about pregnancy?

Alex blogs at hearthomeandhope.wordpress.com about about the things she loves, her family, and her faith. Check out her blog for more great posts like this one =)

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Hey! My name is Leigh and thanks for visiting my site! I am a Millennial Mommy trying to figure out this whole 'motherhood' thing one blog post at a time! Join me as I navigate motherhood to my toddler girl and marriage to my handsome Dutch man!

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